Automotive interior components often consist of a core member having a capability to retain its shape, and a surface skin member bonded on the surface of the core member for soft feel and aesthetically attractive appearance.
In such a vehicle interior component, for the purpose of improving the aesthetic appearance of the peripheral part of the finished interior component, the peripheral part of the surface skin member is folded back onto the reverse surface of the surface core member.
Such a processing of the peripheral part of the surface skin member is carried out either manually or automatically by using a vacuum back holding device.
FIG. 11 illustrates the general structure of a vacuum back holding device. First of all, a core member 2 is positioned on a back holding die 1, and a bonding agent is applied to the core member 2. A surface skin member 3 is then placed over the surface of the core member 2, and a cover member 5 consisting of a stretched elastic sheet made of such materials as rubber is pressed against the reverse surface of the surface skin member 3 while vacuum suction is applied to the front surface of the surface skin member via vacuum suction holes la provided in the vacuum back holding die 1 so that the surface skin member 3 may be securely bonded over the surface of the core member 2 and the surface skin member 3 may be folded back over the edge of the core member 2 onto the reverse surface of the core member 2 by the elastic force of the elastic sheet 4.
If the steps of bonding the surface skin member 3 onto the core member 2, folding back and securing the peripheral part of the surface skin member 3 onto the reverse surface of the core member 2 are carried out manually, work efficiency is extremely low because the peripheral part of the surface skin member 3 needs to be folded back and secured onto the reverse surface of the core member 2 while applying a suitable amount of tension to each part, and the need for manual work prevents any further improvement in productivity.
When the process of vacuum back holding is employed, misalignment between the core member 2 and the surface skin member tends to occur. When the width of the peripheral part that is to be folded back is excessively small, the subsequent steps must be manually carried out, and the step of folding back the peripheral part of the surface skin member may not be achieved with a desired accuracy.